Company That Made the First 3D Printed Metal Gun Is Selling Them For $11,900 182
Lucas123 writes "Solid Concepts, which last month revealed the first fully-functional, metal 3D gun, announced today that they're putting 100 limited-edition models of the 1911 .45 caliber pistol on sale for $11,900 each. Solid Concept demonstrated the gun by initially firing 50 rounds through it. Since then, the company said it has fired nearly 2,000 rounds through the pistol without a single malfunction. Unlike the very first 3D printed gun — the single-shot, plastic Liberator — Solid Concepts says is not trying to promote the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. Its purpose in printing the firearm was to demonstrate its ability to turn out precision, durable parts that could withstand the massive pressure created by firing a bullet. People who purchase one of the limited-edition guns will also have the chance to tour Solid Concept's Texas facility to see their gun being printed, and to join their lead additive manufacturing engineers on the range for the first test firing of their limited 1911 gun."
Re:Ironically, the first Highway Robbery committed (Score:1, Informative)
You can fire a bullet without a barrel. Just fixate the bullet somewhere and hit on the back of it with a nail.
No you can't. The casing will just explode.
Re:A 1911 for how much ??? (Score:4, Informative)
I own both a Springfield Arms 1911 and a Romanian AK (it's a 74, not a 47, meaning it takes 5.45x39 ammo instead of 7.62x39 like the 47 does). I paid $900 for my 1911 (brand new in the box) and I saw them at the last gun show I attended for up to $1500. I paid $1000 for the AK, 5 magazines and 1000 rounds of ammo. It is set up just like it would be in theater, and has hardly been used (muzzle wear and throat erosion are very low). The AK's I saw at the last gun show ranged from $650 up to $2000. Where are you getting them for $30?
Re:WTF (Score:5, Informative)
There is nothing obsolete about the design.
The M1911 was designed well before 1911 by John Browning and was a standard in U.S. military forces until the 1970s when, some would argue due to political pressure, the U.S. and NATO adopted the European standard 9mm round.
The standard 1911 fires a .45 ACP bullet and is remarkably elegant from a design perspective. Many would argue it's still the best defensive pistol out there. I'm carrying one on my hip at the moment.
The design has been reliable enough that I can take the parts from my current 1911 and put them in a 1911 from the era when they were initially introduced and have a very functional firearm. Today, one can pay anywhere from $400 to $5,000 for a 1911 depending on the manufacturer and I would gladly carry any of them to defend myself.
Just because it was designed over 100 years ago doesn't make it obsolete in any way, shape or form.
Re:WTF (Score:4, Informative)
There is nothing obsolete about the design.
That's not really true. The path the cartridge follows and the design of the extractor make it prone to problems compared to other firearms. I've had a S&W 1911 firing standard hardball choke on a casing so hard it had to be cleared with a good-sized tool. So I bought the Kimber. I had one FTF before replacing mag springs and giving the weapon a detail strip, where I found a miserably fouled extractor. And that's just one of the problems with the design... that this is even a possibility.
The M1911 was designed well before 1911 by John Browning and was a standard in U.S. military forces until the 1970s when,
Utilization by a military doesn't prove anything except that they were using it.
The standard 1911 fires a .45 ACP bullet and is remarkably elegant from a design perspective. Many would argue it's still the best defensive pistol out there. I'm carrying one on my hip at the moment.
Confirmation bias. I have one too but I don't think it's the best thing around. Neither did John Moses Browning. He went on to design the Hi-Power based on the lessons learned from the 1911. Aside from its lesser cartridge, the Hi-Power is arguably a better firearm in every way.
The design has been reliable enough that I can take the parts from my current 1911 and put them in a 1911 from the era when they were initially introduced and have a very functional firearm.
The design is sloppy enough (due to age) that if you actually do take parts from your current 1911 and put them in an original 1911 without smithing, they might work perfectly, they might make your gun fail to fire or fail to eject, or they might make your gun fire full-auto and not stop.
Just because it was designed over 100 years ago doesn't make it obsolete in any way, shape or form.
It's obsolete in form. The shape is lovely, though, which is why there are still single-stack pistols around. For example, the S&W M&P .45 Pistol, with its simplified external extractor and so on and so forth.
Re:WTF (Score:4, Informative)
The 1911 isn't a perfect design by any means - I would flag three issues that can't be corrected via trivial gunsmithing:
1) The extractor has several functional issues, not the least of which that it's supposed to be both a structural element and a spring. It tends to get clogged with crud and be at the wrong tension.
2) The "ski jump" between the frame ramp and barrel throat and general feed geometry is less than ideal.
3) The clearance between slide stop and bullet is far too similar to the clearance between slide stop and mag follower, leading to situations where the slide doesn't lock back when it should or does lock back when it shouldn't.
That said, there are many upsides to the 1911 design as well that subsequent designs have failed to match. The trigger design is such that it's possible to get an excellent trigger in terms of crispness and ability to tune to a desired weight - better than is possible on any striker or double action platform. The barrel to slide lockup is better than any other design because of the tunability afforded by the bushing and barrel link. The 1911 is very thin given the caliber it's chambered in, which makes them excellent concealed carry guns. The 1911 ergonomics just "feel right" in most adult male's hands. The positive action safeties prevent "glock leg".
Personally, it's one of the two pistol types I choose to carry (the other being S&W J-frame revolvers).